May the Force Be with the Mouse
When the Walt Disney Company announced the acquisition of Lucasfilm back in October, Star Wars fans had mixed reactions. Some were very excited, while others quoted Han Solo with “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” However, so far, the Force seems to be with Disney.
Recently, Disney announced that it has hired J.J. Abrams, director of Star Trek and creator of Lost, to direct the first installment of a new trilogy of films, which will take place after the original trilogy. Disney announced prior to this that Michael Arndt, writer of Little Miss Sunshine and Toy Story 3, will write the screenplay.
On February 6, 2013, Disney announced that along with a new trilogy of Star Wars films, it will also produce several new “stand-alone” feature films. These films will focus on certain popular characters from the Star Wars universe. Some possible ideas that have been proposed include the origin story of smuggler Han Solo as well as an adventure involving bounty hunter Boba Fett.
The question remains, however, should we be worried that Disney is going to ruin Star Wars by attempting to milk every cent out of it through countless new films? I say no. My proof lies with a singing frog and a team of six superheroes.
What I am referring to is Disney’s acquisitions of The Muppets and Marvel Entertainment. Ever since Disney acquired the two famous brands, they have been, in fact, incredibly successful. The film The Muppets (2011) brought Jim Henson’s fuzzy creations, such as Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy, back into the limelight of American pop culture. In 2012, Disney released the Marvel superhero team-up film The Avengers, which in turn grossed $1.51 billion worldwide, becoming the third highest grossing film of all time. To the fans of Star Wars, I say relax. The franchise is in good hands. Disney knows what they are doing. It’s not like they are going to create an animated film featuring the hijinks of everyone’s “favorite” character Jar Jar Binks. But then again…